MY VALINETINE RECIPES

Steps:

• Cream butter in a large mixing bowl; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat well.
• Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and oats, stirring well. Add to creamed mixture; stir well. Divide dough in half, and chill thoroughly.
• Roll half of dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; keep remaining dough chilled until ready to use. Cut with a heart-shaped cutter. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets, and cool on wire racks. Repeat procedure with remaining dough. Frost with Powdered Sugar Frosting.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 Degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Wash and dry the orange half, then coarsely chop it.
• In a bowl of food processor, pulse orange and cranberries until finely chopped but not pureed. Transfer to bowl; stir in granulated sugar, pecans, and ginger. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
• Beat mascarpone on medium speed of mixer until soft. Add 1 cup of cream, 6 tablespoons powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Refrigerate until needed.
• Thaw pastry sheet as directed on package. Unfold thawed pastry on lightly floured surface and lightly flour the top surface. Roll out to an 11x11-inch square.
• Using cookie cutters, cut out five large (4-inch), five medium (3-inch) and five small (1 1/2-inch) hearts. Cut out extra small hearts with any remaining dough to use as garnish.
• Place all the hearts on the prepared baking sheet; bake for about 12 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes.
• Heat remaining 3 tablespoons cream in microwave for 30 seconds; add chocolate and stir to melt. Microwave for 10 seconds at a time if needed to fully melt chocolate.
• To assemble pastries, split the large and medium hearts in half with a serrated knife. Pipe (or spoon) filling into bottoms of hearts, add a spoonful of cranberry relish and finish with the top hearts. Add a layer of filling and relish to top of the large heart; set the filled medium heart on top. Then add cream and relish to the top of the medium heart and finish with the small heart.
• Drizzle chocolate sauce over the pastry. Repeat with remaining hearts. Extra small hearts can be dusted with powdered sugar and used as a garnish.